“I have some people who actually really care:” Young sexual minority women’s lived experiences of non-suicidal self-injury disclosure

Sexual minority youth are more likely to engage in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) than their heterosexual peers, and sexual minority women demonstrate greater risk of NSSI than their sexual minority male counterparts. However, a lack of research exists on NSSI among young sexual minority women, particularly their NSSI disclosure experiences. We used a descriptive-interpretive, qualitative design with semi-structured interviews to examine young sexual minority women’s lived experiences disclosing NSSI and of others’ responses to these disclosures. The sample included 65 sexual minority women aged 14-30 recruited via paid social media advertising from across the U.S. We performed an inductive thematic analysis of transcripts from 58 participants (89%) who reported a history of NSSI. Participants shared reasons for disclosure (wanting help, communicating distress) or nondisclosure (cultural stigmas), types of disclosure (accidental/involuntary, and direct/voluntary), and recipients of a disclosure (friends, partners, mental health providers, and parents). They also described responses to, and feelings after, NSSI disclosure, revealing two themes: i) Unhelpful/stigmatizing responses (based on fear, anger, and apathy) and ii) Helpful/destigmatizing responses (expressions of concern, emotional support, and alternative coping strategies). Overall, young sexual minority women’s disclosure experiences were consistent with those of other populations, highlighting the need to further reduce stigma about NSSI, as well as sexual minority identities, and provide universal education promoting helpful responses to NSSI disclosure.